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Re: [RC] [Guest] Matthew's Proposal - Heidi SmithI hadn't yet responded to Karen's post, so will add responses both to her post and to Jim's replies... 1. The "IN TIMERS" MUST be competent person who have a solid idea of what their job is, and they MUST be in their proper place AT ALL TIMES. I have seen many a ride that had NO intimer to start the 30 minute window timing process. Or had only ONE intimer who didn't realize how inportant their job was and went to the potty, or..etc,etc.etc.This should happen under the CURRENT recovery time. 3. ALL THE CLOCKS & WATCHES will have to be synchronized much more exactly than most of rides I have seen in the past. I have seen some rides where watches/clocks were as much as 6 minutes different.Large face clocks are common...and cheap. SE rides have one sitting at the start point of the ride that everyone uses as the "official" time. All you gotta do is sync your watch with it when you give your number to the start timer. Piece of cake.... 4. There will have to be an abundance of P/R persons so that a horse which has met the criteria inside the 15 minutes doesn't get penalized and sent out of the 15 minute window to the 15+ -30 minutes window because they had to wait for a P/R person.A ride that has this problem needs to change the P/R routine. ALL THREE of the above issues SHOULD ALREADY BE routine! If they are not, there is something wrong! Admittedly, the 30-minute recovery window is currently one of the most abused concepts at rides in some areas due precisely to poor management (lack of accurate in-times)--and that is a hole that needs to be plugged anyway. Perhaps THIS rule would also be better enforced if the new proposal became a reality. 5. Since horses have to be presented UNSADDLED for the mid-day stops, this 15 min window would prevent a rider from going to his/her trailer to lay down their saddle in a safe and clean place. A marginal horse is always advised to have the saddle removed so that the recovery can occur. Huh? Having just gotten back into the riding routine this summer, I didn't ever find it a problem to find a spot to shuck my saddle promptly, if I felt I needed to. Most times my horse is down without doing that, so I don't always--but did practice that this summer when we had 100+ temps for several weeks. I would submit that if the removal of a saddle presses one in the 15 minute window, the horse is likely on the edge anyway. Another poster (was it Terre?) mentioned that at some shorter checks, we feed, water, eat, readjust everything, and accomplish the entire check in just 15 minutes. 6. All of the extra volunteers you have just required cause an extra food or whatever thankyou burden for the ride manager.I don't think we would need any in the SE...just business as usual. I agree, Jim--at least it SHOULD be business as usual. 7. What happens when a ride doesn't have alot of entries? Well, for one, it eliminates all of your other complaints about ride management being swamped at the vet checks trying to deal with this concept... (tic) Heidi =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-= Ridecamp is a service of Endurance Net, http://www.endurance.net. Information, Policy, Disclaimer: http://www.endurance.net/Ridecamp Subscribe/Unsubscribe http://www.endurance.net/ridecamp/logon.asp Ride Long and Ride Safe!! =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=
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